November Wrap-Up

December 4, 2018

Last Friday, CFI WNY hosted a lecture by Buffalo State College professor Michael Niman.

Professor Michael Niman of Buffalo State College spoke at CFI WNY on November 30, 2018.

In his talk titled “Weaponized Social Media and the War on Verifiable Reality,” Niman demonstrated the many ways in which social media has become embedded in the lives of Americans. Additionally, Niman explored some of the implications of widespread social media use around the world, including the role social media played in the fall of Mosul. Niman argued that media literacy is one of the tools necessary to fight back against the spread of fake news on social media, but also warned that the physically and psychologically addictive nature of social media will make this a difficult battle to fight.

Some of our local members participated in efforts to increase political participation, including registering people to vote and offering rides to the polls. Nationally, data from Pew Research Forum indicate that the share of midterm voter participation was up among the religiously unaffiliated – from 12% in 2014 to 17% in 2018.